This invention relates to animal kennels. More specifically, this invention relates to a modular animal kennel boarding system.
Animal boarding systems known in the art have a number of drawbacks that impact negatively on both the user and the animal boarder. Traditional boarding systems tend to be constructed from monolithic units which require large areas of floor space, and if used indoors, specialized single use buildings to accommodate the kennels.
Animal boarding systems with these problems are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,662,713; and 3,087,458. The ""713 patent discloses a boarding system made of discrete monolithic animal runs that are stacked one on top of another. The kennel system of the ""458 patent also uses discrete runs of singular construction. Because each run of the boarding systems in these patents is an autonomous unit, a kennel constructed from these runs is difficult and time consuming to assemble as well as to move from location to location or rearrange withing a single location.
Also, traditional kennel systems tend to be problematic to clean. When animal boarders are confined for any appreciable length of time each animal run needs to be washed of the boarder""s waste on a regular basis in order to prevent spread of disease from animal to animal and ensure a safe and comfortable environment for the animal as well as for those who maintain an animal boarding system. In the traditional boarding systems, usually either an animal boarder must be removed from its respective animal run so the user may clean, or the user must clean around an animal, potentially to that animal""s discomfort, e.g., if an animal run is washed with a hose the animal may get wet, or such a cleaning may be dangerous to the user, e.g., if a temperamental animal must be removed from its run during cleaning, the user is placed in direct contact with the unfriendly animal and susceptible to biting or other injury.
Furthermore, traditional kennel systems generally have not succeeded in addressing how to gain access to a run as easily as possible for both the user and the animal boarder, particularly if the boarding system has plural levels of animal runs as required to minimize floor space for indoor boarding. These stacked animal run systems have in the past had kennel doorways on the upper runs that simply opened into space above the lower runs so that a user or attendant had to physically lift an animal boarder up off the floor and into the run or down from the kennel to the floor. As mentioned above, whenever a user comes into direct contact with an unfriendly animal, the attendant is put at risk to personal bodily harm and even if the animal is friendly, the attendant is subject to back injury from the lifting.
Also, traditional boarding systems often have more than one animal run sharing a common doorway. Again, this potentially puts a user in harm""s way when coming into contact with more than one animal in order to fetch a single animal. When multiple animal runs have one common entrance cleaning the multiple runs also becomes more difficult. The animal boarders occupying a first run must be moved into an adjacent run, which shares the common entrance so that a user may clean the first run, and then the animal boarders must be moved back into the first run in order for the user to clean out the second run. Of course, the problem is further exacerbated when more than two animal runs share a common entrance.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,021,739 to Allen, commonly held by the Assignee of the present invention and incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, discloses a modular animal boarding system comprising plural rows of upper and lower kennel runs and which addresses the drawbacks of prior boarding systems described above. Commonly held co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 10/060,115, filed on Jan. 29, 2002 and incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, describes a kennel system having only a single row of upper and lower kennel runs. In some applications, however, height limitations prevent the use of full-height upper and lower kennels, whether of single or multiple row construction, thereby making it unfeasible or cost prohibitive to utilize the space for boarding animals. There is thus a need for a modular animal boarding system which addresses the aforementioned drawbacks of existing systems and which further provides a double-stacked kennel system which may be installed in a limited height environment.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a modular animal boarding system having an upper modular section opening onto a catwalk, the upper modular section and catwalk being supported above a lower modular section.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a modular animal boarding system that may be constructed indoors in very nearly any multiple purpose building so long as the building has adequate floor area and sound proofing.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a modular animal boarding system with upper and lower modular sections subdivided into distinct animal runs, each animal run having a waste collection drain that empties into a suitable waste collection system.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a modular animal boarding system with plural animal runs, each animal run having a foldable bench that allows a user to easily wash clean a run while an animal remains in the run.
The preceding objectives are accomplished with the present inventive modular animal boarding system having a multiple run lower section and a multiple run upper section that may be quickly erected at any desired location having access to an adequate waste collection system.
The upper section is supported above the lower section by a support frame. The lower section is subdivided into plural lower runs, each lower run having a common rear wall. Each lower run has its own doorway to provide access to an animal boarder, the doorway opening away from its rear wall. The upper sections are comprised of discrete upper runs, each run having a door that opens generally toward a common catwalk. Each upper run also has a drain in fluid communication with a plumbing system so that a user may wash out the upper run of animal waste. Each upper run drain is in fluid communication with a common drain pipe that empties into a gutter defined in the floor of any suitable location having access to an adequate waste collection system. Each upper and lower run may have a foldable bench that the animal boarder can be quickly conditioned to jump onto when a user hoses off the run""s floor. A user may also fold the bench up against the run""s rear wall to allow a thorough cleaning of the run while the run is unoccupied as well as to gain access to a drain located beneath the bench.
The upper runs open generally toward the catwalk that the user and animal boarder use to access the upper runs. The catwalk is accessed by a staircase having a landing plate with a gutter in fluid communication with the drain pipe so that a user may clean the catwalk of any animal waste, and that waste may drain into the drain pipe, into the floor gutter, and thereafter into the waste collection system.
The upper and lower sections may have single or multiple rows of kennel runs and the entire system is constructed to have a combined height of not more than about 12 feet to permit installation in facilities with limited headroom. Because the lower and upper sections are constructed from distinct modular parts, i.e., each run is not monolithic, the boarding system is easily locateable and quickly constructed at any suitable desired location.